


I is for Ingenuity

by Aelfgyfu



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Character Study, Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 19:36:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1829770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aelfgyfu/pseuds/Aelfgyfu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What will you do?" the woman asked him. "When the priests come to, they'll tell Apophis that you betrayed them."</p><p>A human woman concerned for him? An unexpected warmth tempered Bra'tac's amusement. He had been deceiving Apophis for much longer than she had lived, but he was touched that she worried about a man she had only recently met. Teal'c had won loyalty from the humans quickly. They were either fools or excellent judges of character; Bra'tac could not yet determine which.</p><p>"I suppose . . . I will cross that bridge when I come to it."</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Bra'tac starts a new phase of his life at the end of "Bloodlines."</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	I is for Ingenuity

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Brilliant Husband (Dude the Math) and [Redbyrd](http://www.mindspring.com/~redbyrd/index.htm) for fast and helpful betas!
> 
> First posted 25 June 2012, both on my LJ [here](http://aelfgyfu-mead.livejournal.com/292994.html) and on the sites for Alphabet Soup (see links at end).

The fight was over very quickly; Bra'tac caught the lone guard by surprise, and the two priests were not truly trained to fight (although one of them proved hardier than Bra'tac expected). Then his opponents lay unmoving on the ground.

"Not bad for a man of a hundred thirty-three." Bra'tac could not help smirking at the Tau'ri youth who had been so surprised to learn of his age.

"Not bad at all," O'Neill said. He smiled, though the dark coverings over his eyes kept Bra'tac from seeing how far the smile went. O'Neill sent the younger man to the Gate to prepare their departure.

"What will you do?" the woman asked him. "When the priests come to, they'll tell Apophis that you betrayed them."

A human woman concerned for him? An unexpected warmth tempered Bra'tac's amusement. He had been deceiving Apophis for much longer than she had lived, but he was touched that she worried about a man she had only recently met. Teal'c had won loyalty from the humans quickly. They were either fools or excellent judges of character; Bra'tac could not yet determine which.

"I suppose . . . I will cross that bridge when I come to it."

O'Neill clearly recognized Bra'tac's echo of his own words. The woman smiled more dubiously.

Bra'tac made his farewells to Teal'c. He had had high hopes for his chal'til almost from the start, but Teal'c had surpassed anything Bra'tac could imagine. 

The Tau'ri and then Teal'c disappeared through the Stargate. Bra'tac had begun to walk away from the portal, thinking already of how he would "cross that bridge," when he thought better of leaving.

A staff weapon needed a hand on it to fire. Bra'tac repositioned the unconscious guard to point his staff weapon just to the side of the Stargate. He pulled his cloak off, rolled it to make as long a coil of fabric as he could. and then quickly but carefully wrapped it around the guard's hand to be able to trigger the staff weapon from a short distance away. He wished he wore an even longer cloak! The first time, he jostled the guard too hard, and the shot missed him entirely and hit the ground beside him. 

The second shot seared into Bra'tac's lower right leg. He welcomed the pain; it would keep him from worse. He quickly disengaged the cloak from the still-unconscious guard. The cloak was dirty and twisted; he pressed it to his bleeding leg, for he could not simply put it back on and pretend that it had been damaged when he fell. The shot had caught him at an angle and not fully cauterized the wound, so he was justified in using it to staunch the trickle from the side of his leg. All physical evidence would support the story he was creating.

Bra'tac had hardly positioned the cloak against his own wound when the first man started stirring—the priest that he had only hit once. The priest stirred slowly, clearly not yet alert. Soon the others were starting to move as well, and Bra'tac began a low stream of curses.

The guard was the first to raise his head and look alert, so Bra'tac directed his ire at him. "Hassak!" he cried. "Did you not see they were about to take me to their world? I could have infiltrated the Tau'ri! But no, you had to follow your orders without _thinking_ , and thus they have again left Chulak unscathed! Go'tak!"

The guard's head bobbled a bit on his neck, but at least the first of the priests to move now seemed to comprehend his meaning. The priest looked distinctly queasy, and Bra'tac hoped the head injury was not the sole cause.

Fortunately, other Jaffa were arriving now who were better positioned to appreciate Bra'tac's performance. Bra'tac continued to tell the guard in no uncertain terms how badly he had failed while the second priest began to stir, and fear showed clearly in the man's eyes. The guard would not meet his eyes, and shame showed clearly on his face. The guard might never even admit that he could not remember firing upon Bra'tac. Even if he did, everyone could see the man's memory might have been affected by his injuries.

Bra'tac ended his invective with the air of a man who has decided his inferiors do not merit any further energies from him. He had done what he needed to do. Bra'tac would not even have to tell Apophis the story first; others instead would recount Bra'tac's attempt to win the trust of the humans so as to open their entire planet to Apophis. Apophis would perhaps be suspicious, but he had suffered too many recent reversals to condemn the one man who might yet lead him to the supposed shol'va. 

His own primta would heal Bra'tac's wounds soon enough, and he would find his way back into Apophis's good graces. When Teal'c returned, Bra'tac would be ready to help him again—and he had no doubt that Teal'c would return to his family, nor that Teal'c would bring his companions. Teal'c's Tau'ri friends did not look like skilled or cunning warriors, but their foresight in taking a primta before they even knew of a need, and their ability to change plans quickly, spoke well of them.

Bra'tac hid his smile as the newly arriving warriors jostled each other for the right to take care of him, and one of them took over his remonstrations with the two priests and the unfortunate guard. He would emerge from this round victorious. He had already outlived all his own masters and many of his pupils, but he had never anticipated the day when one of his students would defy Apophis outright. The time had come to share the truth about the false gods with more of his people. Teal'c and the Tau'ri would be back, and Chulak should be ready. They should take their own freedom—and now, for the first time, Bra'tac could believe he might live to see it happen. 

 

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> [Here is the link to the SG-1 Gen Fic Day](http://sg-fignewton.livejournal.com/228394.html) for which this story was written (on LJ) and [the link for the whole Bra'tac and Jaffa Alphabet Soup Anthology on Dreamwidth](http://fignewton.dreamwidth.org/204168.html).  
>  Many thanks to sg-fignewton for organizing this Alphabet Soup (and all the others) and cheering me on to write and finish a story!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: _Stargate SG-1_ and its characters belong to Showtime, Gekko, MGM-UA, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions, Stargate SG-1 Prod. Ltd. Partnership, and probably other persons or entities whom I've forgotten. _Chuck_ belongs to: College Hill Pictures Inc., Warner Bros. Television, Wonderland Sound and Vision, and probably others as well. They probably both belong to other persons or identities as well, but not to me. No copyright infringement is intended, and indeed the story probably won't make sense unless you've watched both shows. So watch the shows, buy the DVDs, etc. I do not profit from fic except insofar as comments make me happy.


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